The theme of the 2018 parade was Elections: Power for the LGBTI+ Our Vote, Our Voice and the objective is to utilize the movement to influence the upcoming Brazilian elections. In 2017, over 3 million people took to the streets of Sao Paulo, according to parade estimates.

In the days leading up to the parade, São Paulo (already one of the most gay-friendly cities in Latin America) explodes with gay activities. By day, “gayborhoods” like Frei Caneca and Largo do Arouche fill with couples. And by night, nightclubs like The Week are packed. We will update this page with a full schedule for the 2018 pride parade when it becomes available.

Getting There

For those searching for air/hotel packages, Expedia offers some of the lowest rates for package deals to São Paulo. Europeans, Americans, and visitors who are already in South America have a number of inexpensive options.

A 36 year-old businessman will file a claim with the organization “Rio Without Homophobia” against a driver hailed using the 99taxis app (a popular alternative to Uber in Latin America.)

The plaintiff and his boyfriend were ejected from the car in the dead of the night on Avenida Almirante Barroso in downtown Rio. The reason for expelling the couple? One boyfriend fell asleep during the ride resting his head on the other’s shoulder.

The story of the homophobic 99taxis driver sparked a firestorm on Brazilian social media. Shortly thereafter, 99taxis issued a statement in a follow up story by O Globo announcing that the driver in question had been dismissed.

The world’s largest LGBT pride parade in São Paulo Brazil will commemorate its 20th anniversary with a focus on transgender rights. The Parada do Orgulho LGBT de São Paulo is scheduled for Sunday, May 29, and will fill the streets of South America’s largest city. (In 2013, parade organizers estimated over 5 million revelers from across the globe converged on the city’s parade.)

There is something darkly sinister about the Portuguese phrase “Boa Noite, Cinderela.” It sounds like something an evil witch in disguise would say to an innocent Disney princess before feeding her a poisonous treat. In Brazil, it describes the phenomenon of drugging victims in bars to later assault or rob them.

Outside of Latin America, mostly women are targeted with this type of crime, and sexual assault is usually part of the equation. South of the Equator, gay men are often the prey. The predators may also be gay, or they may be heterosexual. Assailants only need to act gay long enough to befriend and flirt with a single gay man before slipping a drug into his drink.

The substance itself could be an existing party drug which creates the desired effect (Special K, GHB, or Rohypnol.) Or, it could be scopolomine, a particularly scary drug with the abilities to subdue victims, make them compliant in their own robbery, and leave them with memory loss.

The goal is almost always robbery, and the story almost always ends with the victim awakening hours, sometime even days, later with no memory of what happened after they met their attacker.

One final tip is to share your story if you have been victimized. When attacks have happened in the gay bars of Sao Paulo, victims and their friends have taken to Facebook to post warnings and even distribute surveillance camera images of their attackers.